Rupee off 1-month highs on short-covering

Mumbai: The Indian rupee came off 1-month highs in afternoon trade on Monday as banks covered their short dollar positions ahead of a local holiday, but gains in local shares and higher Asian units supported the currency.

At 2:30pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs49.93/94 per dollar, above its previous close of Rs50.00/02. It traded as high as Rs49.83 on Monday, its strongest since 25 February.

Markets were shut on Friday on account of Good Friday and will be closed on Tuesday again for a holiday.

Indian shares were trading 1.7% higher, extending gains into a seventh straight session, as increased hopes for a recovery in the global economy bolstered investor confidence.

Most Asian currencies were higher against the dollar.

In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contract on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were quoting at Rs49.9850 and Rs49.9875 respectively, with the total traded volume on both exchanges at about $430 million.